A woman walks with water near Coffee Bay, one of the poorest and most crime-affected areas in the country. / Kevin Sutherland, epa

by Rebecca L. Weber, Special for USA TODAY

by Rebecca L. Weber, Special for USA TODAY

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africans headed to the polls Wednesday in the country's first general elections since the death of Nelson Mandela last year, and the first in which voters born after the fall of apartheid are old enough to take part.

Many of these young voters say they won't participate in the ballot.

"I realized, what am I going to vote for? I don't believe in our government leaders and their empty promises," said Asanda Mkhwane, 19.

Mkhwane is part of the "born-free" generation, those born on or after April 27, 1994, when the country overwhelmingly voted for Nelson Mandela as president.

Only one-third of 18- and 19-year-old South Africans are registered to vote, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),

Mandela's party, the African National Congress, has won all of the national elections over the past 20 years. Though several opposition parties have regional strongholds, only the ANC has a realistic chance of winning the presidency this year, analysts say.

"In South Africa, there's a high level of party identification," said Cherrel Africa, head of the political studies department at the University of the Western Cape. She said those who lived through apartheid tend to have a stronger political connection.

The ANC strongly values loyalty, and for many, voting for the ANC is seen as a mark of respect.

"I travel by bus; it's mostly black people, and I hear them saying, 'Nelson Mandela put us where we are today â?? he was in jail for 27 years for us,' " Mkhwane said. "They don't want to spit in his face now."

A big challenge for the IEC has been how to woo youth who don't have any direct familiarity with apartheid.

Nomsa Masuku, deputy chief electoral officer of outreach for the IEC, says South African youth prefer to get their information "not from the government, not from older people, but with people they identify with â?? largely celebrities."

Fifteen well-known South Africans, such as rapper Khuli Chana, took part in an effort to mobilize the youth vote as part of the IXSA (I Vote South Africa) campaign that was widely viewed on social media platforms.

Some South African youths say they are tired of hearing about the struggle against apartheid.

"It's the great contradiction," Africa said. "The struggle for freedom was so that the next generation wouldn't be struggling."

Shanice Taute, 18, from Mossel Bay, a harbor town 250 miles east of Cape Town, chose not to register.